EastEnders, BBC1

4:11pm Saturday 15th December 2007

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IT WAS all tears and joy on the square last night as the Brannings welcomed their new baby into the world.

Max the love rat proved he wasn't all that bad as he delivered Tanya's baby in the living room.

Ahh, what a lovely happy ending to the Max/Stacey and Bradley storyline.

But hang on a minute, soap fans. We're not that stupid, are we? We all know what this means, don't we?

Yep - they're setting us up for a big fall.

Because it's a truth universally acknowledged that EastEnders characters can't be happy over Christmas.

You'd think there was some kind of rule that unless there's a death, divorce, or a young barmaid slain by Frank Butcher (poor Tiffany), the scriptwriters don't get their annual bonuses.

And thanks to the fact that we all know every twist and turn of the storylines weeks before they happen, most of us know that this year's seasonal misery will be delivered to Tanya when her daughter finds the video of Max and Stacey's illicit wedding day kiss.

The scriptwriters say they tried having a happy Christmas one year and it just didn't work.

Which year was that then? I don't remember a Christmas in Albert Square without doom and gloom.

I say don't be so miserable - let the characters finish Peggy's leftover turkey before their lives collapse.